The Dragon's Test (Book 3) (21 page)

The men cheered and sprinted off to accomplish their orders. Eldrik started to walk after them, but Silvi stopped him. “A general does not fight with the men,” she said. “Leave the blood to them, yours is to observe and command.”

“It would be better if Bracken were still alive,” Eldrik admitted. “I have never commanded others in battle.”

“I will be with you,” she assured him. “Also, I thought you should have this.” She pulle
d a great jewel from her robes.

“What is it?” Eldrik asked as he took the stone from her. He turned it over in his hands.
The deep, vibrant green gem felt warm to the touch and had a glow about it. It was half as large as his hand, but it was not exceedingly heavy. The chain it hung from was severed in the back, but it appeared easy enough to exchange for a new one.

“I am not certain
what it is,” she said. “When I ran to Gondok’hr’s tent, it was the only thing not consumed by the fire. I can feel magic inside of it. Strong magic.”

Eldrik tucked it into his pocket. He looked up to the battle. Green, purple, and blue fireballs rained down from the night sky. Some dissipated as they struck invisible shields, others exploded in the air, but a few managed to wreak havoc on the men below. Both armies took heavy casualties from the magical missiles. He marveled at the power the mages and warlocks controlled. “I wish I could do something like that,” he said.

“I will teach you,” Silvi promised. “After this we will have time to train you properly.”

“Can you cast any spells?” he asked. She looked at him curiously. “I mean, can you summon a great fireball to hit the house?”

“The house?” she echoed.

“If Erik’s family is still inside, then striking the house may divert the enemy’s attention.”

Silvi took three steps forward and held both of her hands up to the sky. She muttered words in a tongue that Eldrik couldn’t understand. Her head fell back and she shouted into the night, repeating the words over and over in a cadence.

A great light flashed high in the sky, up above the clouds
. The ground shook as a wave of thunder rumbled down over the battle and a mass of churning, yellow flames tore through the clouds, descending toward the house. Frantic shouts filled the night and men scurried out of the way as the fire struck the far corner of the manor. Tile, stone and wood splintered apart, cracking and popping loud enough to be heard even where Eldrik stood. A thick wall of flames spread out around the area of impact until a third of the manor was ablaze. Shouts and agonized yells went up from the enemy and brought a great smile to Eldrik’s face.

*****

Erik felt a wave of heat pass over him as a large fiery sphere devoured a portion of his home. Archers too slow to scramble out of the way vanished in an instant and others leapt from the roof out of desperation. Wood and shards of stone flew into the battlefield, ripping through several men and laying them low. One particularly large hunk of rock blasted through one of the catapults as it was in mid-launch. The tar pot shot up a few feet and then dropped back onto the catapult, drenching it and the crew around it in liquid fire.

“Go!” Gorin shouted from nearby. “We’ll hold them off while you get everyone out!”

Erik nodded and sprinted for the house. A pair of axmen were foolish enough to try and stop him. Erik made quick work of them and continued on his way without losing a step. He ran as fast as he could, but Braun was already leaping up the steps to the front door, followed by a handful of footmen.

“Braun, use the tunnel!” Erik shouted. Braun turned and gave Erik a single nod.

“I’ll get them out,” he promised. “I’ll meet you at the stables.”

Erik shook his head. “No, sta
y in the tunnel,” he shouted. “In the last chamber where you have a few weapons and armor, just before the exit to the stables. Stay down there and wait until it is over.”

“I’m not leaving
you to fight them by yourself,” Braun replied hotly.

“Do it,”
Erik said.

Braun frowned, nodded, and then disappeared into the burning house. An arrow
zinged
by Erik’s ear and he turned, expecting to see Lady Arkyn, but instead he saw an enemy soldier reloading his bow for another shot at him.

“They’re coming from the north!” Erik shouted. He ran forward, somersaulting under the soldier’s next shot and stabbing the man through the gut. Erik stood and surveyed the scene quickly. To the west Gorin was leading the defense. He was heavily outnumbered, but managing to hold the front. To the north, Demetrius and his catapult crew were busy defending themselves from a group of twenty while the mages from the academy were caught between the enemy
warlocks and a large force pouring out of the forest to the north. Erik made a split decision to attack the enemy warlocks.

He ran forward as quickly as his legs would propel him. Arrows flew by him, but this time they came from the direction of the house and bit into the enemy. He guessed Lady Arkyn had seen him and was lending h
er support. A warlock turned to face Erik. A swirling green snake of fire coiled before the man. Just as he moved to send the spell, an arrow sunk into his forehead. The spell fizzled and the warlock fell backward.

The next
warlock threw a large spike of ice, but Erik sliced through it with his flaming sword, instantly melting the spell. The water harmlessly splashed onto his chest as he ran forward and drove his sword into the warlock’s chest. The warlock dropped to his knees, snarling and cursing as he fell. Erik pulled his sword free just in time to block a warrior’s axe as he came in with a diagonal chop aimed for Erik’s neck. Erik stepped back and swung horizontally, catching the axman’s hip with the top third of his flaming blade. The man lurched forward and twisted, trying to close his wound. Erik then reversed and brought his sword back to finish the man with a quick slice through the neck. Then armor and bodies slammed together as House Lokton warriors rushed around Erik to engage the warlocks and enemy warriors with him.

The battle raged furiously for hours. Arrows flew into both armies, cutting them down considerably, but neither force gave any ground. Blades rang out until the dawn light broke in the east and sent the first golden rays down to the field.

Bodies and limbs covered the ground like thick leaves dropped in an autumn forest. The blood painted the ground scarlet and the last wisps of smoke from the previous day’s fires gasped their dying breaths up into the early morning breeze.

Erik’s muscles ached and begged for respite. His eyes stung, pierced by the bright rays of the early sun mixed with the salty sweat from his brow. His right shoulder was almos
t numb now, and he had to fight gripping the sword with two hands for his waning strength. The others around him were equally as tired. The shouts and grunts were no less savage, but the pace with which the soldiers swung at each other had lessened considerably. Even the mages who still stood now went several minutes between spells. Many of them had even resorted to using daggers and short swords as they grew too weary to cast their spells. Arrows overhead were scarce now. The archers had joined the main fighting sometime in the night. Erik had seen Lady Arkyn fighting her way toward Gorin, but that had been a long time ago.

Erik forced himself to concentrate on the pocket of warriors in front of him. He staggered forward, picking each swing and strike of his sword carefully to ensure each expenditure of energy either took a foe, or prevented a strike from killing him. The men at his side pounded forwa
rd with him, beating the remainder of the group before them back until they broke ranks and ran for the forest.

His men gave a shout and waved their swords triumphantly. Erik gave a weak half-hearted smile and watched the seven sword
smen tucking tail and sprinting for the forest. Then he turned back to survey the rest of the battle. The men to the west were still engaged in combat. He watched for a few moments until he spied Gorin, still at the front of the line and still powering through the enemy ranks. Lady Arkyn was nearby, flashing bright crimson scimitars and dropping enemies as effortlessly as if she had started fighting only a minute before. Eventually the enemy broke on the west as well and ran back for their camp.

The men near Erik let out another chorus of triumphant shouts. This time the men on the field echoed the shouts and banged their swords against their shields. A hand fell on Erik’s shoulder and he turned to see Demetrius standing near him. The man had blood oozing from under the sleeve on his right arm, but he didn’t appear to be bothered by it.

“We did our best, but the catapults have been destroyed,” he said.

Erik looked back and saw that all of the machines were broken and torn down. Heaps of bodies piled around each one. “I’m sure you did your best,” Erik said. “What of the wind-lance?”

Demetrius shook his head. “They got to it too.”

Erik nodded and looked back to the west. “Then let us hope there are no dragons in our future,” he said under his breath.

“From what I can tell,” Demetrius continued. “We have no more knights. I believe we are down to footmen only, so we cannot give chase to the enemy without risking our men.”

Erik nodded and looked back to the manor. “We need to find Braun,” he said. He stood, watching the flames eat through the last portions of the once great manor. “I have failed,” Erik said.

Demetrius slapped Erik’s back. “A house is but stone and wood,” he said. “We can rebuild that easily enough. We fight to protect lives.” The big man turned and walked away after that, leaving Erik staring at the wasted house.

“Go, get some rest,” Erik told the others.

“Shouldn’t we set a perimeter?” one of the men asked.

Erik nodded. “We are going to fall back to the stables, we can set lookouts in the trees to the north of the stables, and some more to the south.”

“We will do it,” another said.

“You all fought well,” Erik said. “You have earned your rest.”

They all protested. “No, we’ll rest when the fight is over.”

Erik nodded and made his way out to find Gorin and Lady Arkyn. Men hailed him and clapped him on the back as he passed. Some shouted adulations,
others simply smiled, but Erik could not share in their revelry. His hand went up to touch the ring hanging around his neck.
I did my best, father
. He recalled his father’s smile as he had shared an orange with him in the solarium. Erik looked to the spot where that room had been. Now only a few beams and smoldering piles of ash remained. He could hardly imagine his father smiling now.

Lady Arkyn appeared before him and pulled him from his thoughts. “I asked if you were alright?” she said with a hint of impatience in her voice.

“What?” Erik asked. He hadn’t noticed her approach. Erik looked to her with a long face. “I am fine,” he said flatly. “Could you and Gorin make the casualty report? I need to find Braun and make sure they made it out of the manor.”

“They are alright,” Lady Arkyn assured him. She gently grabbed his shoulder and turned him toward the stable. “There is Braun, and Lady Lokton is a few steps behind him.”

Erik turned and a wave a relief washed over him when he saw them. He fell to his knees and tears filled his eyes. He clutched the ring through his shirt and let out a long sigh as he tried to choke back his emotion.

Lady Arkyn glanced to Gorin who only shrugged.

“Not exactly what I expected from the great living legend,” Gorin jabbed.

Erik paid him no heed. He wiped his eyes and put his left hand to the ground next to him. He thought to explain himself, but chose not to. He wasn’t sure he would know what words to say anyway. How could he explain what he had been through over the last few weeks?

“Gorin, go and make the casualty report,” Lady Arkyn said firmly. Gorin marched away dutifully without another word. Then Lady Arkyn bent down and placed her scimitar on the ground before her. “You are different,” she said tenderly. “If I didn’t know better, I would say you were not Master Lepkin.”

E
rik looked up and smiled in spite of everything. “Who else should I be?” A tear slid down his left cheek.

Lady Arkyn looked to the burnt manor, then back to Erik. “I wonder what Master Lepkin’s pupil woul
d feel like now, at this moment?”

Erik remained silent, trying to understand whether she had guessed who he was.

She offered him a smile and patted his shoulder. “I would imagine it would be a bit overwhelming.”

Erik nodded. “It is,” he admitted.

“Still,” she said as she rose to her feet, grabbing her scimitar and swirling it back into its scabbard. “I think
if
he were here, he would have fought like a lion.” She reached down and offered him a hand.

Erik took it and she helped him to his feet. “Like a lion?” he echoed with a hint of a grin on his face.

Lady Arkyn shrugged. “Maybe like a dragon.” She poked his chest. “You have a strong heart,” she said.

Erik opened his mouth to speak, but Braun came up and interrupted.

“You alright?” he asked hastily.

Erik nodded. “I will be,” he said. Erik looked back to his adoptive mother. “Is she alright?”